Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 854
Likes: 334
From: Cambridge UK
Bikes: 1903 24 spd Sunbeam, 1927 Humber, 3 1930 Raleighs, 2 1940s Sunbeams, 2 1940s Raleighs, Rudge, 1950s Robin Hood, 1958 Claud Butler, 2 1973 Colnago Supers, Eddie Merckx, 2 1980 Holdsworth, EG Bates funny TT bike, another 6 or so 1990s bikes
Spaced out
My inside leg is 33 inches and I'm 5 10. I ride 56, prefer 58 but have 3 or 4 60cm c-c bikes. I can't vouch for the safety side but my beater bike has a drop of 9 cms from the seat to the horns.My TT bikes are about 12 cms. I don't have any spacers as the 25 bikes that I ride are dialled for me only. Most are quill but my 853 bike is 1" threadless like yours.
An AHEAD center bolt has a very limited reach (unlike a quill stem) and is only a 8 mm x 50mm bolt whereas a quill is 21mm shank inside a steel steerer inside two sets of bearings and is usually about 150mm deep.
From what I understand an AHEAD steerer must be cut to fit - the stacks you see in shop bikes are a prelude to the cut and if my memory is right are stacked above the stem in the shop prior to the sale.
Because I ride and fix a great many bikes many folks come to me with problems their LBS can't fix. Usually it's because someone has sold them a bike that doesn't fit no matter how much they spend.
Every day I see folks struggling into a typical UK headwind on bikes that are not dialled in for their size.
Last edited by Johno59; 03-19-21 at 10:17 AM.